BRIDGETON — County Clerk Gloria Noto said she is on alert after former assistant county prosecutor Ken A. Pagliughi told her two women claiming to represent Noto’s office visited his home and offered to pick up his vote-by-mail ballot and assist him in casting his vote.

Noto’s office is required to give a list of all residents who have requested vote-by-mail ballots to anyone seeking such information.

Even though the list does not have any party affiliation next to the voters’ names, a person could still potentially forge

Cumberland County Co-Chairman Doug Long

votes if they wanted to.

“I am not saying that is what’s happening, but it could be,” said Noto. “If a person retained a list of registered voters from the board of election’s office, which does indicate a voter’s party affiliation and compared it with our list, they could see what party a person belongs to and who intends to vote by mail.”

Noto added that her office has a rigid procedure when assisting residents with vote-by-mail ballots.

“I would absolutely deny this,” Long said. “If Gloria Noto is claiming that the Democratic party is going around to residents and making false claims, then she has stepped across a line. She is allowing her position as county clerk to be politically warped, and allowing her party’s boss to make her nothing more than a puppet ... yet again. If she is going to allow her office to be manipulated by politics, then she is not giving the county what it deserves. She is being dishonest to the residents who are paying her salary with their tax dollars.”

Long, who is also running for county freeholder, laid out what his party’s procedure is with representatives going door-to-door.

“We have a group on several occasions go around as representatives, clearly identifying themselves as people of the Democratic party,” Long said. “We go around to neighborhoods that are predominately Democratic to help mobilize, educate and register residents.”

Long thinks this is nothing more than Republicans up to their “old tricks.

“They have nothing to run on,” Long said. “They haven’t done anything to help the people of Cumberland, so I am not surprised that they are up to their old tricks. In the past, they have put out commercials that pretty much told people if they participate in early voting they are committing voter fraud.”

Noto has sent a letter to the Attorney General’s Office regarding the claims of individuals impersonating members of her office. She wants these representatives to know that they are on notice.

“They have to stop,” Noto said. “We will be watching.”

A similar controversy arose last year when county Republicans claimed Democratic operatives submitted fraudulent applications for mail-in ballots. Democrats denied the claim.